Lewis County Sirens.com

BRANDISHING A FIREARM

• Police arrested a Centralia resident yesterday for pointing a gun at 36-year-old man who who came to his door. Officers were called about 6:30 p.m. about the incident that reportedly occurred at the 1500 block of Lewis Street. Officer John Panco said Christopher L. Spencer, 34, and his wife were home when the man showed up to tell him some information that Spencer didn’t like hearing. Spencer reportedly retrieved a handgun, pointed it at the visitor and told him to leave, according to Panco. Spencer was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for unlawful display of a firearm. Panco didn’t reveal what the information was, suggesting it was personal. Spencer’s actions didn’t rise as it sometimes would to level of assault for pointing the gun because the victim told police the behavior didn’t leave him fearing he was in serious danger, Panco said.

THEFT

• For the fourth time in the recent past, Lewis County PUD reported yesterday someone stole copper ground wire from multiple utility poles, leaving the public at risk for getting electrocuted. A deputy was called to state Route 7 in Morton to the latest report, where some 70 feet of wire had been taken from power poles, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. That apparently occurred in May and cost PUD about $2,500, according to the sheriff’s office. On Friday, a deputy took a report that someone had taken stole six-foot lengths of copper ground wire from 21 utility poles along Lincoln Creek Road outside Centralia. PUD Superintendent Greg Hart said today it’s happened four times around the county lately and a missing ground wire leaves the risk for someone getting electrocuted. Not to mention the person cutting the wire, Hart said. He recently learned there were 29 fatalities last year around the country connected with such attempts, he said.

WANTED MAN FOUND IN CENTRALIA

• Centralia police arrested Ricardo Martinez-Hernandez about 1 p.m. yesterday at the 300 block of East Magnolia Street for  second-degree assault in connection with an incident the day before in which he allegedly hit his wife with an aluminum chair and punched her in the face. The 25-year-old man was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

COLLISION WITH AMBULANCE

• Centralia police were summoned about 10:45 a.m. yesterday to East Summa and South Gold streets where a vehicle bumped into the back of an ambulance. No injuries were reported, according to the Centralia Police Department.

FRAUD

• A 91-year-old Lewis County woman was tricked into handing over $1,400 purported to be a fee she needed to pay to collect millions of dollars she won in a lottery, the sheriff’s office revealed on Monday. The sheriff’s office reports she is one of at least three recent victims – in Toledo, Winlock and Vader – of a scam that has targeted older residents locally. Detectives have found victims are contacted by phone and told they won a “huge lottery” but need to wire money or mail a money order for the “winning fee”, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office thinks the scammers are working out of Jamaica, the news release notes. Further details about the crimes or when they occurred was not released. Sheriff Steve Mansfield stated in the news release that real lotteries don’t ask for money in order to pay out winnings and anyone who is unsure if they are dealing with a legitimate organization can call the sheriff’s office.

OOPS

• Centralia police say a 19-year-old driving without his headlights turned on, on the wrong side of the road, toward a patrol car overnight was arrested for driving under the influence. Joshua J. Lemhouse, of Vader, pulled to to the correct side of Harrison Avenue once he saw the officer, but was then booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

TOLEDO MAN FOUND BY K-9 AFTER FLEEING TRAFFIC STOP

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said this morning that their K-9 Leko tracked down a man overnight who had fled a traffic stop by the Washington State Patrol. Leko and his handler were requested just after 10 p.m. to the area near U.S. Highway 12 and Larmon Road in Ethel, according to the sheriff’s office. The driver, Christopher A. Drummheller, 31, of Toledo, was found hiding in some brush nearby, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

ASSAULT

• A 48-year-old Morton man was arrested last night after deputies were told he hit his 24-year-old girlfriend in the head with a stick and choked her. A deputy who responded about 7:30 p.m. to a 911 hang up call from the 5300 block of state Route 508 was told the assault occurred because she took too long at the store buying him beer, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Colen W. Corey, 48, reportedly also pulled the cord from the telephone when she tried to call for help, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree assault, unlawful imprisonment and interfering with domestic violence reporting.

• Centralia police were called about 3:30 p.m. yesterday to the 300 block of East Magnolia Street where a 22-year-old woman had been struck with an aluminum chair and punched in the face. Her nose appeared to be broken, according to Centralia police. Officers are looking for her husband, Ricardo Martinez-Hernandez, seeking to arrest him for second-degree assault, according to the Centralia Police Department.

THEFT

• Somebody broke into a Mossyrock-area store and stole boxes of candy, cans of Monster energy drinks, lighters and matches, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy called yesterday morning to the 200 block of Ajlune Road was told it occurred sometime between Sunday and Monday, according to the sheriff’s office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said there was some evidence left at the scene.

• Coins, jewelry and other items were reported stolen yesterday from a residence on the 600 block of West Seventh Street in Centralia. Police were told it happened during the past month.

• Centralia police were called just before 7 p.m. yesterday to a car prowl at Rotary Riverside Park on the 700 block of Harrison Avenue. Medication was stolen, according to police.

VANDALISM

• Chehalis police were called yesterday to a complaint of “tagging” on a garage on the 600 block of Southwest Cascade Avenue.

FIRES

• Firefighters were called to extinguish a smoldering stump in the Seminary Hill nature area in Centralia about 6 o’clock last night.

• Riverside Fire Authority was called yesterday afternoon to Green Gables Drive on Seminary Hill to a burning truck. Its owner said it was running rough so he popped the hood, went to get a wrench and when he came out it was on fire, according to Capt. Ken Colombo. The cab was fully engulfed in flames and then it was extinguished.

• A shed and its contents were destroyed by a fire on Friday evening at the 3100 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia, according to Riverside Fire Authority. The cause is undetermined, although it is seemed to have started near the floor, according to Assistant Chief Rick Mack.

BAR BRAWL

• Chehalis police called to a large fight on the 300 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue about 1:40 a.m. on Sunday found a 32-Winlock man with a broken nose, according to the Chehalis Police Department. No suspect was arrested. However, a 26-year-old Toledo woman was arrested for allegedly punching another woman in the face at the one of the bars, detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said. Leah D. Greenwood was arrested for fourth-degree assault and then released, according to McNamara. The two incidents were somehow related, he said.

NEPHEW ARRESTED FOR CHOKING AUNT

• A 24-year-old Chehalis man was arrested for second-degree assault after he allegedly choked his aunt and threw her to the ground yesterday. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said Emmanuel Bullen was angry because she would not give him a ride or money. Bullen was subsequently found on Bishop Road and booked into the Lewis County Jail, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

DEPUTY: WOMAN EATS EVIDENCE

• A 46-year-old Winlock woman was hospitalized and arrested after she swallowed a plastic bag of some unknown substance after a deputy told her to spit it out. A deputy had contacted Barbara Fisher about an alleged violation of a protection order following an investigation that began on Friday evening, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Fisher was taken to the emergency room where she was treated or observed and then booked into the Lewis County Jail for tampering, obstruction and violation of a protection order, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. Brown said the sheriff’s office didn’t know what it was she swallowed, but did not believe Fisher when she said it was sleeping pills.

FLEEING POLICE AND POLICE DOGS

• Centralia police dog Kayo tracked a man who fled police just before 8 p.m. on Saturday when they went to a a residence on the 1200 block of View Avenue. An arriving officer recognized the man who ran into the home and back out again as having a warrant, Officer John Panco said. Kayo found 21-year-old Marcus J. Inman at a nearby trailer and the Centralia resident gave himself up, Panco said. Inman was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

• A 24-year-old Chehalis man wanted for an outstanding warrant ran from a traffic stop in the 1200 block of North Tower Avenue about 12:25 p.m. on Saturday, drawing officers from Chehalis, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and a police dog. Officer John Panco said Raland A. E. Titus gave himself up before police dog Lobo could catch up to him. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

THEFT

• Chehalis police were called about 9:45 p.m. yesterday about a burglary on the 600 block of Northwest West Street. Details on what was missing could not be readily confirmed.

• Centralia police took a report of the theft of a .22 Ruger pistol. The man who lost it told police it was taken from his vehicle sometime since the beginning of last month and Friday.

• Officers responding to an alarm just before 1 o’clock this morning at a business on the 1200 block of Belmont Avenue found a large broken window and the doors open. Nothing appeared to be missing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police were called just after 6 o’clock this morning to the 2500 block of Fords Prairie Avenue when a 61-year-old man discovered his red, three-wheeled electric scooter had been stolen from beside his truck sometime during the night.

• A Toledo woman returned home on Friday to her residence on the 100 block of Plomondon Road to find an estimated $5,500 of items stolen. Among the goods stolen from her garage and boat were fishing reels and life jackets, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s office.

• Police were called Saturday night about a car prowl on the 300 block of South Berry Street in Centralia. Missing was beer and CDs, taken sometime that day, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police were called about 5:40 p.m. on Friday by a woman who said a male was loading her car onto a trailer at the 700 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia. Arriving officers found the vehicle loaded up but no thief was around, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Somebody stole six-foot lengths of copper ground wire from 21 utility poles along Lincoln Creek Road outside Centralia, according to a report taken Friday by a deputy. A PUD employee said it must have occurred sometime since the beginning of March, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The loss is estimated at $2,668.

VANDALISM

• Deputies were called to the Lewis County Jail on Friday arrested an inmate for allegedly using a broken broom handle to destroy the screen on a new visitation kiosk, the sheriff’s office reported this morning. Lyle R. West, 59, of Glenoma, was arrested for second-degree malicious mischief, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. The damage was $815, Brown said.

• Chehalis police were called about “tagging” on a garage in an alley between Southwest Fourth and Fifth streets on Friday.

DRUGS

• Centralia police found methamphetamine and heroin when they searched a residence on the 1200 block of View Avenue in Centralia on Friday night. Jose L. Ortiz, 30, was arrested and booked for possession of meth with intent to deliver, according to the Centralia Police Department. Christian D. Brown, 24, was arrested and booked for possession of heroin with intent to deliver, according to police. Both are Centralia residents.

• A 40-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man, both from Centralia, were arrested for possession of heroin about 10:30 p.m. on Saturday night at the 1200 block of Alder Street in Centralia, according to police. Toni L. Maier and Shawn D. Johnson were booked into the Lewis County Jail, police reported. Johnson was also booked for possession of methamphetamine, according to police.

WRECKS

• A vehicle ran into a power pole on the 200 block of Tilley Avenue in Centralia just before 6 p.m. yesterday, knocking out electricity in the area for several hours, according to Centralia police. The pole was broken and a 34-year-old Chehalis man was cited for driving with a suspended license, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A 50-year-old Onalaska man was injured when his vehicle ran into a tree last night on Jorgenson Road near state Route 508. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said this morning that Paul E. Marko received lacerations to his head and body and was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital. His vehicle was totaled, and it appeared he was speeding, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. Marko was cited for first-degree driving with a suspended license and operating a motor vehicle without an ignition interlock device, Brown said.

DOG BITES CHILD’S FACE

• A 3-year-old Chehalis boy was taken to the hospital after he was bitten on the cheek by a dog on the 600 block of State Street in Centralia yesterday afternoon, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said the child had a large open wound on his face that came from an English Mastiff. The child was reportedly playing rough with the dog and may have startled it, so Brown didn’t expect its owner would be cited.

ALLEY FIRE

• Riverside Fire Authority and police were called about 12:45 a.m. today to a fire in a Dumpster in an alley in between South Pearl Street and South Tower Avenue on the 100 block. They don’t know what caused it, according to the fire department.

THEFT, THEFT AND MORE THEFT

• A 32-year-old Centralia man was arrested near Interstate 5 and milepost 63 shortly after Centralia police spread the word of a vehicle stolen from the 400 block of Yew Street in Centralia yesterday, according to police. Officers were called just before 4 p.m. and it wasn’t long before a Vader police officer spotted the missing vehicle traveling southbound on the freeway near milepost 69, according to the Centralia Police Department. The state patrol and sheriff’s deputies also responded to the off ramp where Stephen A. Dembrowicz was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police. He was also allegedly in possession of the victim’s wallet, police reported.

• Police and an extortion victim lured a 26-year-old Tacoma woman to Centralia last night where she was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail. Officer John Panco said Jillian M. Emrick had claimed she was pregnant and needed money for medical expenses, tires and other things, threatening possible harm to the 41-year-old man, his family and his career. He gave her upwards of $1,000, Panco said. The two only met about four days earlier on an Internet web site, according to Panco. Emrick was arrested at the 600 block of Harrison Avenue around midnight for extortion, according to Panco. “As far as we know, she isn’t pregnant,” Panco said.

• Chehalis police were called about 8:15 a.m. yesterday to an address on Jackson Highway where someone had taken the tire off a trailer, but left it there. Three hours later an officer was called to a business a few blocks away on South Market Boulevard, where someone had cut through a fence to get a car and stolen a wheel and tire, according to Deputy Chief Randy Kaut.

• Chehalis police were summoned to Shop and Kart on North National Avenue yesterday afternoon when a tried to use what turned out to be a counterfeit $50 bill. Police said there was a good chance the woman didn’t know what she had.

ASSAULT

• Centralia police were called just before 6 o’clock this morning to the 500 block of West Main Street where they arrested a 29-year-old Centralia man for unlawful imprisonment and fourth-degree assault – domestic violence. Antone G. Reynolds allegedly assaulted his wife and prevented her from leaving the residence during a dispute. Further details were not readily available.

VANDALISM

• Chehalis police took a report yesterday of somebody tagging a garage on Southwest Third Street with green paint.

EQUIPMENT IN INDUSTRIAL PARK CATCHES FIRE

• Lewis County Fire District 6 and the Chehalis Fire Department responded to a small fire in the Chehalis Industrial Park yesterday morning. District 6 Firefighter Mike Goodwillie said workers at Mohawk Industries on Downie Road had mostly doused the flames that were inside a piece of equipment at the foam manufacturing business. The damage seemed minimal as the machine was turned on and being tested by the time firefighters left the scene, Goodwillie said.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police were called three times yesterday to reports of eggs thrown at vehicles and a building. Struck were a building on the 200 block of South Tower Avenue and vehicles on the 2800 block of Russell Road, according to the Centralia Police Department. The incidents follow several from the day before in the Logan District. Police Sgt. Carl Buster says it appears to be random.

• Centralia police took reports of graffiti on buildings yesterday at the 600 block of Centralia College Boulevard and the 2800 block of Russell Road.

THEFT

• Police were called just before 11 a.m. yesterday about a vehicle prowl on the 1300 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia. Taken was the registration, according to Centralia police.

DUI WRECK

• Centralia police arrested a 55-woman woman for driving under the influence following a minor accident around 5 p.m. yesterday near North Railroad and East Maple avenues. Elizabeth Draskovich was cited and then released, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRIVE-BY SHOOTING SUSPECT FROM 2006 BACK IN LEWIS COUNTY JAIL

• A former Centralia man is expected to go before a local judge this afternoon in connection with a drive-by shooting case from August 2006. Colbert A. Salmeron, 24, was found El Salvador following a tip that came from an airing of America’s Most Wanted earlier this year. He was arrested by U.S. marshals at the airport in Houston, Texas, shortly after he arrived in the country in May. Salmeron faces charges of first-degree assault and drive-by shooting for an incident at the 500 block of North Tower Avenue in which several shots were fired from a red Ford Mustang striking two vehicles in a parking lot where several individuals were standing around. It’s the second time Salmeron has been extradited back to Washington for the same case. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail last night with a no-bail hold.

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Read background on Salmeron, here

TOMATOES AND EGGS

• Centralia police said this morning they took multiple reports of vehicles being hit with eggs overnight in the area of the 1300 block of Delaware Avenue and the Logan District.

• Morton police took a report on Friday morning from the 300 block of O’Neill Road that someone had thrown tomatoes at a home and knocked over a no trespassing sign.

THEFT

• Centralia police were called about 9:45 p.m. last night to the 200 block of Willow Lane where someone had broken into a residence and stolen money and jewelry. It looks like they got in through a window, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office took a report yesterday of an estimated $4,000 of copper and aluminum stolen from PUD on the 1400 block of Falls Road southeast of Glenoma. Someone cut through two fences to get inside the compound, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy was told it happened sometime since last Wednesday, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

• Police were called about 8:15 p.m. last night about a 1998 Volkswagen Jetta stolen from the 300 block of Centralia College Boulevard. It was found just before 1 o’clock this morning in Fife, Centralia Officer John Panco said.

• Police were called about 9:30 a.m. yesterday about a vehicle prowl at the 1400 block of Belmont Avenue in Centralia. Missing was a black Kodak digital camera and GPS unit, according to the Centralia Police Department.

ASSAULT

• A deputy took a report of a second-degree assault that occurred last month near White Pass, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported yesterday. The victim, a 44-year-old man from Everett, said he and some acquaintances were returning home from camping and stopped at a scenic lookout on U.S. Highway 12 when a dispute broke out about somebody’s driving on July 22, according to the sheriff’s office. The man was punched in the face by a friend of a friend and he subsequently discovered his jaw was broken, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

DRUGS

• A 24-year-old Centralia man was arrested yesterday for an outstanding warrant and possession of methamphetamine, according to Centralia police. Samuel P. Davies, of Centralia, was booked into the Lewis County Jail after contact with an officer about 12:45 p.m. at the 500 block of South Tower Avenue, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Somebody used blue and gray spray paint to leave what appeared to be the letters “NOSE” on a building on the 300 block of Centralia College Boulevard, according to a report made to Centralia police yesterday.

• A pair of 25-year-olds were arrested in Morton last week for purposely running over two “squeegees” belonging to a local business, the Morton Police Department reported yesterday. The man and woman were arrested for third-degree malicious mischief, according to police.

WRECK

• Three people were hospitalized after a head-on crash on U.S. Highway 12 in Rochester yesterday. Troopers and aid were called just before 9 a.m. to the two-car collision near Denmark Street. All the patients were adults and none had life-threatening injuries, according to authorities. It’s a stretch of roadway West Thurston Regional Fire Authority has seen enough accidents on that they are talking with the state Department of Transportation about what might possibly be done to make it safer, Fire Chief Robert Scott said. Both lanes were shut down about an hour. The Washington State Patrol says one of the drivers fell asleep.

LEWIS COUNTY CRIME STOPPERS

• Lewis County Crime Stoppers is looking for information about a residential burglary outside Chehalis in which appliances and other items were stolen. It happened about 6 p.m. on July 8 at the 100 block of Fircrest Road. Crime Stoppers says the culprit could drive a dark blue Chevrolet pickup with a box trailer. Taken were a GE refrigerator and washer, a Whirlpool dryer, a Delta table saw and a Jotul brand wood stove. Crime Stoppers pays for information leading to the clearance of crimes and takes tips anonymously at 1-800-748-6422 or online at www.lewiscountycrimestoppers.org